Friday, March 09, 2007

Friday 03/09 A.M. Quickie:Champ Week Upsets?!?! Meh.

Could there be a method to the madness of UCLA's pre-Tournament mess? Better question: SHOULD there be?

A presumptive NCAA Tournament 1-seed, the Bruins' quarterfinal loss to Cal in the Pac-10 Tournament may very well have busted their chances for a top seed.

But since when has a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament (versus a 2-seed or a 3-seed) ever guaranteed anything? I've hammered this for weeks: Seeding is irrelevant; matchups are all.

However, here IS a guarantee: By losing, UCLA will NOT have to play two more games over the next two days.

Is there a correlation between mileage logged in a conference tournament and NCAA Tournament success? (Or, alternatively, is there a correlation between momentum gained during a deep conference-tourney run and NCAA Tournament success?)

I suspect not, and the most obvious evidence is that, each year, half-a-dozen big-league conference tournament champs do NOT win the NCAA title. And at least 11 of the 12 top-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament (if not all 12) do not win the NCAA title.

Given UCLA's secure status as, at worst, a 2-seed, they might as well concentrate on the only tournament title that matters: The NCAA title.

(Feel free to make the leap based on what I'm saying: If I'm a fan of a team with a 1-, 2- or 3-seed, I could take it or leave it whether I win my conference tournament title. Who cares? NCAA title or bust.)

Meanwhile, how intriguing is Duke's seeding status? After losing in the first round (FIRST round!) of the ACC Tournament, I can't believe the Dukies will pull a Top 4-seeding. (More intriguing: How quickly they'll flame out. Who's got "first weekend" in the over/under?)

So where DO you seed Duke: 5? 6? 7? I'm rooting for them to pull the dreaded 5-seed or pull the 6-seed and get 11-seed VCU in the first round or pull a 7-seed and get 10-seed Winthrop in the first round.

The natural follow-up question is whether the Selection Committee will factor in the absence of suspended Duke stud Gerald Henderson?

If they're not going to take into consideration EVERY time any team had any player missing – or even not playing at full strength due to injury – they shouldn't factor in Henderson's absence in deciding where to seed Duke.

Women's College Hoops: Pokey Chatman Resigns. I love all of the euphemisms and vague descriptions being thrown around by mainstream media, all trying to either write around the fact that Chatman had a romantic relationship with a player. (While the player was still in school? After they left? Rumor is that the player was still in school.) How much of this vague-speak has to do with the fact that it would have been a gay relationship and mainstream sports media is absolutely, fundamentally and embarassingly incapable of handling that?

Let's provide a helpful reminder: A coach should never have a romantic relationship with a player. Man, woman. Straight, gay. Doesn't matter. Never. Sexuality isn't the issue here; power is.

More March Madness:

Big East: Georgetown looks strong. Wait: Is Louisville the best team in the league? They're certainly the hottest. Great semifinal lineup.

ACC: What the hell happened to Maryland's mojo? THIS is why you have to "Fear the Turtle" as a bracket-buster.

Meanwhile, did WakeForest just screw my preseason-smart, midseason-ugly, endseason-smart "Georgia Tech as Final Four darkhorse" pick? Because Tech can't make a run if they don't make the freaking field.

SEC: After knocking off Tennessee (which had been angling for a Top 4 seeding), here comes LSU. Previously NIT-bound, I sense a run...

Big 12: Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Kansas State-Texas Tech a virtual play-in game for an at-large bid? (If not, it should be.) CORRECTION: I have been told by my Big 12 spies that Tech is a lock. (Really? Even if they lose here?) However, K-State absolutely needs this win.

Meanwhile, I think Texas A&M is in for a hell of a game tonight against OklahomaState, which is awful on the road – but not on neutral courts.

Pac-10: Prediction: I think the Washington-WashingtonState game was the de facto Pac-10 conference tournament title game. (Wazzu won.)

Mid-Majors: How huge of a blow would it be to Nevada's chances of making a deep NCAA Tournament run if they lost guard Kyle Shiloh for the rest of March after a knee injury yesterday in the MWC semis?

(What makes it more ridiculous is that he slipped on an on-court advertisement. I understand the conferences have to try to make money, but can't they keep the marketing messages from damaging the product?)

More MWC: Is UNLV a legit Final Four team? Someone with some MWC or UNLV knowledge please fill the rest of us in.

Tom Brady: From All-Pro to All-Preg! Um, is Gisele Bundschen pregnant with Tom Brady's baby? Between Bridget's and Bundschen's buns in the over, that's an awkward weekend visitation situation.

(For those of you who mocked me for calling Tom Brady the new Shawn Kemp, who's laughing now? You cannot possibly deny Brady's ascension to Kemp Status now.)

Meanwhile: I appreciate that Tom probably should spread his seed as far and wide as he possibly can (and I'm sure there's a line of ladies who would be interested), but he should consider either (a) condoms or (b) a vasectomy.

NFL: Willis McGahee traded to Ravens. Seems like a good upgrade for both McGahee (who will get a fat new deal) and Baltimore. What will the Bills do to fill McGahee's role? Word is that they're looking at Chris Brown or Dom Rhodes.

NHL: Chris Simon stick-as-weapon hit. I'm with Melrose: Suspend the guy for the rest of the season. That was assault. Isn't there a code among players that you just don't do that?

NHL: Why is it that the only time the NHL makes national news these days is for scandal? It seems their union honchos "pulled an HP" and tried to monitor players' emails. No wonder the players fired Goodenow.

MLB: Who had "March 8" in the "Mike Hampton Injury" Office Pool?

MLB PED Watch: Journeyman pitcher Darren Holmes the latest to be linked to this latest PED scandal. (Doesn't that affirm the Baseball Prospectus Theory that PEDs were mostly used by the talentless players at the margins?)

I also have a question: Is SI.com going to name these guys in dribs and drabs every other day? Are they sitting on a larger list and releasing it piecemeal simply to drive traffic to the Web site?

If you're staying offline all weekend (and with all the hoops to watch, I don't blame you), be sure to check back on Monday for a complete Bracket breakdown.

152 comments:

Actually Dan the NHL story we should be talking about is the dirty, cheap hit by Chris Simon last night. I know he just got plowed into the boards put to closeline someone with your stick that is disgusting. If he is not suspended for a minimum of a year the NHL is a joke.

I actually had March 9th while covering first base with a calf injury in the Hampton injury pool, consarnit!If SI thinks Holmes is going to drive traffic I think they'll be sorely mistaken. But if they are sitting on Dan Kolb or Jeff Conine, prepare for a site crashing drove.

There are some pretty compelling stats that, at least in terms of making it to the sweet 16 (and to a lesser extent making it to the final 4) being a 1 seed is better than being a 2.

Also, I heard the argument made somewhere that this year there are about 10-12 really good teams that have set themselves apart from the pack. These would be your 1-3 seeds. Meaning, at least theoretically, there will be a drop off around the 4 seed mark. So better to be a 1-seed and face the weaker 4-seed in the sweet 16. (Of course, I realize that Texas getting a 4-seed would completely demolish this argument.)

As for the hockey debacle, I agree with Mike and Mike that he should be out at least the rest of this year and some sizable chunk of next year.

I think that a team with the exact same resume as Duke would get in and it is because of the emphasis they put on the RPI and SOS. So if the team was Wake or Clemson and they had played the hardest schedule in the ACC and finished 8-8 and had beaten teams like Gonzaga, Air Force and Georgetown they would definately be in. I will admit that Duke is going to get the benefit of being Duke and they may get a higher seed than they deserve. The one time I thought Duke did not deserve and NCAA berth was in 1996 after Coach K came back from his back surgery that year they snuck in as an 8 seed and got waxed by Earl Boykins and Eastern Michigan.

I think Duke should be NIT bound. But then again I was born hating Duke

I understand that's a statement based in your hatred of Duke, but I honestly don't understand how anyone could possibly say that Duke isn't a tournament team. Hell, going into the ACC tourney they looked more like a 6 seed, and now should be an 8-seed at worst. Compare their resume to a team like FSU or Illinois or WVU sometime and note the huge difference. It's fun to say Duke might should miss the tourney, but let's be rea. And honestly, if UF is a 1-seed and Duke the 8-seed we play in round 2, I will be nervous.

Thanks for giving some pub to the NHLPA troubles. James Mirtle has been detailing them extensively over at his blog- looks like Saskin is on the way out.

Hockey is a niche sport. The hardcores follow every puck drop and every story line but the only time the big gorilla WWL gets involved is incidents like Simon's. No suprise there. At least FSN' Final Score provides hockey highlights.

The ESPN basketball guys said that no eventual national champ has ever lost in their conference tourney first round....I don't think I would have picked UCLA to win anyway.

Bubble teams are ODU, Drexel, Okla. St, GT, WVU, App St.....I don't think Duke fits in with them. I would like to see Duke (and all of the other ACC teams...well maybe not Maryland) lose in the first round no matter what their seeding is though.

Was just looking and Lunardi's Bracketology over at the WWL and he has Duke as a #7 Seed Playing Syracuse in the First Round. If that where to happen that would be a very interesting 1st round match up.

The ESPN basketball guys said that no eventual national champ has ever lost in their conference tourney first round....

I love stats like this, especially when the complete opposite happens. That being said, I don't think UCLA is going to win the whole thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if they make the Final Four again.

Wait...Mike Hampton's still playing? I feel like Clue Haywood: "They ain't released you yet?"As for Duke, after watching them yesterday, I think I want them in the tournament, just for the possibility of them losing in the first round. They are really not that good. Maybe with Henderson back in the tournament it might be a little different, but they were just bad last night for huge stretches.

I have been watching Duke basketball for almost 25 years and this is the most frustrating team I have seen. They are not only young but Paulus and McRoberts were not asked to do much last year with Shelden Williams and JJ Redick. While Paulus has stepped up his scoring and improved from earlier in the year. He still makes stupid decisions with the ball and gets beat off the dribble very easily.

As for McRoberts he does have a ton of talent. I think the only thing he cannot do with a basketball is shoot it and that hurts when you are the only low post presence for this team. I think McRoberts leaves after this year and in 3 years when he is out of the NBA I get to read how another Duke player was a huge bust.

Dan, I agree that coaches and players should never be romantically involved with each other. If a male coach was involved with a female player there would be a complete media circus, public uproar and heads would roll. Am I the only one bothered by the double standard here?

I think Texas Tech is in the field, K-State is not. I suppose, as a fan, your rationale that losing early in the conference tournament might be attractive if it was your team that lost. But to the team and its fans, titles matter...ALL titles. Conference, Conf. Tournament, NCAA. There are a lot of ways to spin things. I don't think a team wants to enter the NCAAs with negative momementum. UCLA definitely has bad mojo right now. Losing in the finals is one thing..but in the first round!? Ouch.

1)The NHL cheap shot was pretty awful. That's not just uncalled for, that's assault. The guy will at least be suspended for the remainder of the season/playoffs, possibly missing part of next season as well. I'd love to see the NHL undertake some kind of policy mandating at least a one season mandatory policy for any deliberate/intent to injury use of a stick to the head. It's totally uncalled for and disrespects the game.

2) Duke is undoubtedly a tourney team. I hate them as much as anyone, but they're a tourney team, probably a 6 seed at worst given their RPI, and the prominent absence of Henderson for that game. That being said, how awesome was it that they lost, and the best part being that Henderson's parents were in the crowd? Fantastic... way to go State!

3) The reason that the LSU coach story isn't a bigger deal is because a) It's women's b-ball, which no one really cares about; and, b) The media is constantly unsure about what to do about lesbians in this country, especially in regards to athletics (where a lot of people presume that a lot of female athletes are lesbians). There's a weird double standard that a lot of people are uncomfortable with gay men playing on sports teams, yet accept (or even mock) that there are lesbians playing on sports teams.

Kevin - that's why I said "in Royals terms". Unless you count wasting 55 million on Gil Meche as a big contract.

I think Tech is in regardless, they've beaten KU and A&M (twice). I'd put the top three of the Big 12 against the top 3 of any other conference and say the Big 12 would win the series. The Big 12 is "down" because its not very deep, but the top 3 are all legitimate final four teams. What other conferences can say that?

That "posterizing dunk" of McRoberts was a blatant charge. Should never have counted. Also NC State got hacked on their last possession in regulation, the game never should've gone to OT. But Duke lost, so everything's okay.

In the NCAA, of course the one real tournament in the NCAAs and winning it is the ultimate reward. As a Syracuse fan, noboby obviously cared that they got bounced early in the BE Tourn. when they won the whole thing.

However the last 2 years they won the Big East tournament and got bounced in the first round of the NCAAs. They weren't going to win the tournament but people were hoping for a Sweet 16 appearance at least. However I will take winning the Big East tournament and getting bounced in the first round over being mediocre in both tournaments. At least they something, got to cut down some nets and feel like champions for one day.

i think the nhl wont come down as hard on simon as they did on say burtuzzi because hollweg didn't get hurt by the hit that bad. he cut his chin, but hollweg got up and continued to play (not to say that i dont think they should). I think simon is looking at a suspension for the rest of the season...thats it. i think he should be out for a full calendar year for that one...

also if you watched the video i was kinda surprised the rangers bench didn't get some shots in on simon during the scrum after. The on-ice players went after him and had him pinned up against the rangers bench, where a couple guys easily could have gotten some retribution shots in...but they didn't. pity...

The difference between Bertuzzi's hit and Simon's is that Bertuzzi's hit was an egregious dirty play with intent to injure, but Simon's was an egregious dirty play using a weapon with intent to injure.

In my mind, the fact that he used his stick makes this one worse. Obviously what happened to Moore was worse though. Really sucks he hasn't been able to play.

Here's why it's important to be a 1-seed this year Dan: Since the field expanding to 64 teams in 1985, no #1 seed has lost in the 2nd round in an odd numbered year.

Also, the stats show that #2 seeds lose way more often than #1 seeds in the 2nd round. After that: makes no difference; the 2s will fare just as well as the 1s. But if you want your team to be a "lock" for the Sweet 16, better get that #1 seed.

it looked like the puck didn't quite make it across the line...and the ref on ice made the initial call to wave it off so they needed indisputable evidence to call it a goal which i dont think there was. but then again, i am a rangers fan.

UNLV is for real. They beat Nevada in Reno, beat BYU and Air Force (although the latter doesn't look so great any more) and have a lot of different options with Wendell White, Wink Adams and Kevin Kruger (the coach's son, by the way). The one thing they don't have is a ton of quality bigs, but they showed that they can still get it done without that against Fazekas and Nevada. Might be tougher in the Dance, though. Also, it's hard to read too much into their MWC performance because they're essentially playing at home, where they're VERY good. Elite Eight is a possibility, further if the matchups shake out in their favor. Title contenders? I don't think so.

UNLV is a veteran team (5 seniors, 3-4 of whom are in the starting lineup on any given night) that plays great defense and when they're playing well is a great 3-pt shooting team that doesn't run as much as they did in the old days. They've benefited from the rule that allowed Kevin Krueger to transfer from Arizona State and play immediately. ASU was never great during his time there, but a guy who can put up 15 pts and 3.5 assists a game in the Pac-10 is a solid addition.

They're not a very big team with their centers in the 6'8-6'9 range, but they play very physical basketball, which can make up for that difference. If they fall behind by a decent margin they've struggled to come back, as evidenced in all of their losses. However, if they take a lead they're very tough to beat because of the defense. Combine the veteran lineup with a veteran coach in Lon Krueger and this is a team that could make some noise. Personally, I just want to see them get to the second weekend and take it from there. If they win the MWC I think they end up with a 4-seed. If that happens, this is indeed a team that could make an Elite 8 run, and yet they could also be knocked out in the 4-13 upset. I think UNLV is a perfect example of a bracket buster. Playing games on a neutral court leaves things wide open.

I'm not a big Royals fan (Red Sox as I'm originally grom New England) so I'm not sure what his contract was. But Sweeney has been robbing the team the past couple of years. Just like Juan Gonzales did.

I sent this email to deadspin this mourning, I don't know if they will use it but obviously Dan did not.

Will-

I am a reader of your site second only to Dan Shanoff's, and have informed him of this information. You may see it in his mourning quickie. I will tell you that my source is not concrete, but mere heresay from someone at LSU, and I have no proof.

I was told that the player that the relationship was with is now in the WNBA. There are nine LSU players in the NBA. All of them played for the previous coach except three, and one is married and had a kid with her husband (not that that is a 100% disqualifying). One of the one's left is Seimone Augustus. She is one of only two women to win the player of the year award twice. She led LSU to the final four for 3 straight years. She was drafted #1 overall by the Minnesota Lynx and won last year's rookie of the year and was also named to the all star team.

Seimone's MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/seimone33) says that she is a lesbian.This picture is found on her personal website... http://www.seimone.com/gallery/main.php?cmd=imageview&var1=NCAA+San+Antonio+Regionals+2%2Fdmw5.jpg&var2=1 (not proof or anything)On the "links" sidebar of her website she lists all typical links: Espn, wnba, the lynx, lsu, top women's basketball blog, usa hoops, and WWW.COACHPOKEY.COM

The other player is Temaka Johnson. She graduated from LSU the year before Augustus and was the WNBA rookie of the year as well. I just heard on All Night with Jason Smith on ESPN radio that the story has changed somewhat to say that it might have been more than one player.

Temeka Johnson is also an out of the closet lesbian according to wikipedia and other places.

Interesting to note that if you go to http://www.coachpokey.com/Pokey/Story.htm there are pictures on the sidebar and there are two pictures of her with players. Those two pictures... you guessed it Temeka Johnson and Simone Augustus.

I hope this helps in some way. If you choose to use it please list me as a regular commenter at DanShanoff.com

Setherton, I find it interesting that 2's usually handle their business against 7s but have problems with 10s. I dont remember the numbers and cant be arsed to search ESPN right now but I believe 10s win at a much higher clip than 7s.

They were without their starting point guard Toney Douglas for 6 games. During that stretch they were 1-4. Rumor has it that the committe will recognize this and not hold it against this. Without those games they are 19-7 and 6-5 in the ACC.

They have a couple good wins and no losses outside the RPI's top 50. And even with those losses without Douglas they are 38 in the RPI with an SOS of 21.

For Michigan, today's game is absolutely must win. FSU might not NEED the win (it's pretty close), but a win would certainly lock it up. Even a close loss might be enough. I have them as my my first team out right this minute. All the games with SEC west teams in them are must win as well for later on.

Yeah, agreed. I just put them there as I was coming up with a list of teams. Should've created a "bubble definitely out" category like you suggested. I think Alabama, Ole Miss, and Bradley would be on there also.

So there are 12 teams bubble in:(this is in alphabetical conference order and in no way reflects closeness to lock status) Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Syracuse, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue (seriously, check their numbers), Texas Tech, Kansas State, Drexel, Arizona, Stanford, Kentucky.

FSU, Air Force, Missouri State, ODU, one team out of the SEC west, Georgia, Oklahoma State, and Michigan are still in the discussion for either playing in or being one of the last in (though i dont necessarily see it). Everyone else is out, provided they dont nail the auto bid.

I agree that Purdue is ahead of Illinois. That said, if there are upsets in just two of the conferences you listed, Jerry, it might be enough to send the Dragons to the NIT. You also forgot the CUSA in your list, btw. ;)

I've enjoyed your blog for a long time, and the quickie before that. I think your a grate righter. I enjoy coming to this blog I'm sorry that you were released from ess-pin. I'm sorry that you became expendable and were no longer a priority. I thought it was because maybe you weren't getting enough hits/readers, but damn, we had the insightful chats and then look at how many people joined your groups for the tourney bracket, etc..

Well, then they went an replaced you with DJ Gallo, which was a stunning turn of events. I mean, you tell one guy that he's no longer necessary, then hire a guy to replace said "unncessary role"?

I'm also sorry that you didn't freshen up your "bit" before it was too late. Hindsight is 20/20. Unless you have lasik done, then you might end up even better. The shit they do now is incredible. I'm actually getting HD eye lenses installed in my face in the coming weeks. It's a xmas present from my partner. But enough about me..

So I started reading Gallo a couple times a week and have had a stunning revelation. He's funny. He brings something new to the table, rather than treading on the same worn out carpet.

Think of your house (or someone's house with money).. you move your couches/chairs around the room every so often as to not wear out a certain path. Your path is pimped. It has treadmarks like Britney has after manufacturing all her whore-babies.

If I respected the opinion of Bob in Boise, then I know where to come for that analysis (which is nice when you're looking for a laugh after a hard day at work.. ie, babysitting). But I'm looking for a bit of substance. You can only have a vanilla shake so long. Then all of a sudden you want a banana split. Then you take the banana out of the 'Split and stick in your significant others' glory hole and eat. Eat away. Lap up that chocolate and maybe even the strawberry. The real delight to all of this is that you finish up with a whip cream mustachio planted delicately on your face. People know, man. You accomplish the Banana Split Delight move, and they know that you're the kind of brotha that don't take "no" for an answer. Let that ho know that you're the king in this castle, that you're Simba and her ass is whatever the hell the female lion's name was.. and you're proving it to her. Roar like a lion, buddy.

Didn't Shawn Kemp have like 7 kids? So now Brady has one (probably) with Bridget and one (allegedly) with Giselle. So assuming he's at 2, that still leaves Kemp .v. Brady in the battle of knocking chicks up 7-2.

Its like comparing Chuck Daly to Red Auerbach. Sure Chuck won a couple of titles, but he would still have a long way to go to get to Red.

Let's assume that Memphis wins the CUSA and Akron wins the MAC and Nevada wins the WAC and that Xavier wins the A-10 and that no team makes a crazy run at a big conference tourney who isn't already in. That makes 21 conferences (Big Sky, SWAC, Northeast, A-Sun, Big West, Sunbelt, MAAC, OVC, Sothland, IVY, A-East, Southern, Patriot, MAC, Mid-Con, Big South, MEAC, West Coast, A-10, C-USA, WAC) that have one bid.

Then you have the 3 conferences with auto bids locked and the chance someone else gets in. This is the CAA, Horizon, and Missouri Valley. You get Wright St., Creighton, VCU as auto bids and put ODU, Drexel, and Missouri St. on the bubble and Butler and So ILL as locks. Also assume UNLV or BYU wins the Mountain West. Whoever doesn't win is a lock and Air Force is on the bubble.

We now have gone through 25 conferences and have 28 teams in and 4 on the bubble.

The 6 remaining conferences are the BCS. According to Bubble Watch, their are 32 teams as locks and should be ins. We will take their word for it because they are very smart.

The teams that are on the bubble for these conferences include: Florida State, West Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, Kansas St., Oklahoma St., Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi St., and Ole Miss.

As a Buckeye fan, I was a little worried about the new unis after seeing Syracuse's gawd-awful digs (seriously, the silver numbers? you can't even read them), but I have to say they are pretty sweet and an upgrade on the old ones.

The bubble has been loaded for a few days but a lot of teams have played themselves completely off in my view and don't deserve to be mentioned any more as having reasonable shots (Clemson, Alabama, and in a few seconds Michigan come to mind). Drive to 65 is a good starter (and Lunardi is a genius) but I think Glockner doesn't move fast enough. It's like he spares reader's feelings. No sane person would consider Clemson a bubble team any more.

And for Dan, who yesterday thought them in: 8-8 Big Ten. No big NC wins. Only 4 of the Big Ten wins were even decent (Indiana, Mich St, Purdue, Illinois) and they couldn't get either of the big dogs. They're out.

Lots of physical play early between BC and Miami. To be expected I suppose. Miami needs to rebound well on the offensive glass, and BC needs to get Dudley established early (or Marshall established at all).

Miami just can't miss a shot. You're right though CMFost, BC is taking too many jump shots. Considering Duds hasn't gotten going yet though, I still like BC's chances. Give Miami credit though, they're playing with a lot of heart and passion right now.

I agree, I'd have rather faced Maryland. And we get the Raycom broadcasts. We didn't get the Tech/Wake game last night, but we get almost everything else.

And yes, credit to Miami. They're playing smart, deliberate basketball. Considering BC does too, it says something that Miami is outplaying them right now. But BC's defense looks solid, Miami is just not missing (despite contested looks for the most part).

While that's true...their RPI is really good and they have a winning record in the strongest conference in the country. I wouldnt be surprised with a 9 or 10 seed at this point but a lot of teams played like crap down the stretch this year.

Dammit, why can't Texas Tech just beat K state and put them out of their misery. Although it would be fun for KU to clobber K State (again) I'd rather just have them lose so I don't have to listen to those purple pussies.

I blame college football if K State gets in. (ok so that's a cheap plug for the blog I wrote earlier but hey...)

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.